US says removal of sanctions linked to Libya actions

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, January 03, 2004

US says removal of sanctions linked to Libya actions

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The United States said Friday that it will not remove sanctions imposed on Libya until Tripoli fulfills its commitments to sever any connection with terrorism and dismantle its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.

"As far as the subject of lifting sanctions goes, our focus is on Libyan actions and Libyan performance," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.

"We've made it clear that as Libya moves forward in fulfilling its commitments to divorce itself from any connection to terrorismand to abjure and dismantle its WMD programs, we would be willing to discuss bilateral relations," Ereli said. "But it hasn't gottenbeyond that at this point," he stressed.

Ereli was responding to remarks made by Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Ghanim in an interview in Tripoli with The New York Times on Thursday.

During the interview published on Friday, Ghanim said that the United States should act quickly to reward his country for abandoning its secret weapons programs.

He warned that unless the United States lifted sanctions by May12, Libya would not be bound to pay the remaining 6 million US dollars promised to each family of victims killed in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988.

The prime minister told the US newspaper that any decision on the sanctions was an "internal matter" for the United States, but that the deadlines and their consequences, made clear in the settlement with the families of the Lockerbie victims, were well known to all parties, including senior administration officials.

Ereli noted that the US government is not a party to the agreement between the Lockerbie families and the Libyan government.

"I would caution you to avoid making the connection between what the agreement calls for and what the US government may or maynot do," the spokesman said to reporters.

"Our actions or our policy is based on Libyan actions and what steps Libya takes to follow through on its commitments," Ereli said. "That's what we're looking at, and that's what's going to dictate how we respond and how we move forward," he added.

The United Nations has lifted its embargo in September after Libya agreed to pay 2.7 billion dollars in compensation to the families of the 270 Lockerbie victims and accept responsibility for the incident. But US sanctions remain in place.

Under the agreement, Libya has already paid 4 million dollars to each family of the victims and the outstanding 6 million dollars to each of the families will be subject to the removal of US sanctions.

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